Prostate Cancer Clinical Stages

Clinical Stage

Clinical tumor stage refers to whether or not the tumor can be palpated or felt on exam and whether it may have spread to lymph nodes or other organs. Clinical stage is based on all information available prior to any treatment and designated by the TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) system described below.

TNM

Explanation

T1a

Unsuspected cancer found incidentally during prostate removal (occupying less than 5 percent of prostate).

T1b

Unsuspected cancer found incidentally during prostate removal (occupying more than 5 percent of prostate).